In this Business Week article, it is suggested that every woman—from North America to Australia to everywhere in between—should birth 2.1 babies in order to keep the population stable. This is simply the replacement rate. The U.S. sits right at that 2.1 average. But some eastern and southern European countries have seen a drop in births—less than 1.3 per woman—giving their population the appearance that it will be cut in half within 45 years.
Why the sudden decrease in births? Is it due to families’ lower incomes? Or women’s struggles to get back into the workplace after raising her children? Nope. Interestingly enough, researchers have discovered that the birth rate is directly related to the home participation of men.
“In societies where women do 75 percent or more of the housework and child care, they are less likely to have another child than in countries where fathers share the load.”
Well, that makes sense to me. Why would a woman want to have several kids with her “partner” if her “partner” requires a mommy, too?
How are things run in your household? If you have/had/are a husband who didn’t share household responsibilities, would this affect your decision to have more children?






